The Minnesota Wild face a must-win against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Tuesday night as their playoff hopes hang by a thread
The Minnesota Wild (37-31-9, 83 points) are all but mathematically eliminated from the Western Conference playoff chase, trailing the Vegas Golden Knights by nine points for the final wild-card spot with just five games remaining. A loss to the Colorado Avalanche (48-24-6, 102 pointsat Ball Arena in Denver officially knocks Minnesota out of the race. The Wild play the second game of a five-game road trip at Colorado, which has lost its last two games but is already safely in the playoff field. The Avalanche likely will face the Winnipeg Jets in the first round, as they trail the Dallas Stars by five points for the Central Division lead and have a two-point edge over the Jets for second place.
How to Watch Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche in NHL Today:
Game Date: April 9, 2024
Game Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
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Minnesota comes off a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday that started its road trip. Kirill Kaprizov scored twice and added an assist and 21-year-old Jesper Wallstedt made 24 saves to post his first career shutout in just his second NHL start. Kaprizov leads the Wild with 41 goals and 89 points.
Colorado surrendered three power-play goals in the second period in its 7-4 loss to the visiting Stars on Sunday night. Jonathan Drouin’s goal at 10:15 of the third period got the Avs back to within a goal at 5-4 before Dallas put the game away. Nathan MacKinnon trails Nikita Kucherov by three points in the NHL scoring race, with 48 goals and 133 points. Mikko Rantanen has 40 goals and 102 points for Colorado.
Filip Gustavson is 19-17-4 in 41 starts for Minnesota with a .900 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average. Alexandar Georgiev owns a 37-17-4 mark in 59 starts, posting a .898 save percentage and 2.96 GAA.
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